Teach Engineering
Clay Boats
Clay itself sinks, but clay boats float. Why? Young engineers build clay boats to learn about buoyancy. They test the weight the boats can hold using washers and then tweak their designs to make improvements, following the engineering...
Curated OER
Masking Tape Masterpieces
Learners create non-objective art based on the design elements of line, color, balance and movement using tape. This simple lesson plan encourages students to create patterns by overlapping and defining lines on a canvas panel. One of...
Curated OER
Oh, What A Day
Students listen as the teacher reads A Country Far Away. They predict what they will do and what they think their partner student will be doing. Students create a KWL chart for Japan. They collect information about their activities on an...
Curated OER
Painting a Color Wheel
You have to love the color wheel, it's just so colorful! Your kids will love it too, as they work through an introductory exercise which allows them the opportunity to draw and paint a color wheel of their own. This wheel focuses on...
Texas Instruments
Drawing a Line Tangent to a Circle
Explore lines tangent to a circle. For this math lesson, learners manipulate circles and lines on a TI calculator. They draw a circle and analyze perpendicular lines intersecting the circle in only one place. This activity works...
Curated OER
Spider Watching
Spiders are creepy, crawly - and interesting! Young entomologists learn about parts of a spider's body, their habitats, ways spiders catch their prey, and what they most like to eat. Some excellent art activities are included in the plan...
Curated OER
Designing a Playground!
Students design their own playground equipment. In this design lesson, students take pictures of equipment they like and make a class pictograph of their favorite ones. They investigate the design, research equipment around the world,...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...
Curated OER
Historical Air Photo Interpretation
Students identify and analyze land use changes over time with historical aerial photographs. They classify different land use into categories.
Curated OER
What Is Clay?
This resource could come in handy the next time you feel like teaching about clay. Basic sculpting techniques, vocabulary, and history of clay are outlined in this informative resource. Use prior to teaching an art project involving...
Teach Engineering
Airplane Tails and Wings: Are You in Control?
Keep everything under control. The lesson, the 16th segment in a 22-part unit, provides a more detailed look at the parts of a plane, specifically the control surfaces. Pupils learn about the construction of the wings and the tails and...
Teach Engineering
Building-Testing-Improving Paper Airplanes: Head's Up!
Take foldables to all new heights. Pupils build and fly different types of paper airplanes in the 14th portion of a 22-part unit on aviation. Groups collect data on distance and flight time for each plane and compare the data from the...
Curated OER
Ancient Egypt
Pupils complete a series of activities to discover life in ancient Egypt. They create want ads for pyramid workers, design vocabulary flash cards and dictionaries, and research famous Egyptians. They also research the "Curse of the...
Curated OER
Matchstick Math: Using Manipulatives to Model Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Functions
Playing with matches (unlit, of course) becomes an engaging learning experience in this fun instructional unit. Teach pupils how to apply properties of exponential functions to solve problems. They differentiate between quadratic and...
Curated OER
Project-Based Learning and the Arts
What's so great about Project-Based learning? Read to learn how projects can help kids apply higher-order thinking skills, conduct thoughtful investigations, and make cross curricular connections. This short article includes five...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Square and Square Roots
Root for your pupils to learn about roots. Young mathematicians first review the meaning of squares and square roots. They then use this knowledge to simplify square roots of monomials with variables.
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 2 - Grade 3
A discussion of bioluminescence launches an investigation of animal adaptations. After re-watching the opening minutes of Dark Water, class members listen to a reading of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This, and then create a new...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 2
West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man and a two-page scientific article about the same topic provide the text for a reading comprehension exercise that asks individuals to craft a one page summary of information gathered...
Curated OER
Building Models
Fifth graders build models. In this measurement lesson, 5th graders build paper models to represent square centimeters, square inches, square feet, cubic centimeters, cubic inches, cubic feet, and perimeter.
Curated OER
Dream Bedroom Floor Plan
Students build and apply concepts of geometry. In this geometry lesson, students create a building using proportions and scale drawings. They use Cabri technology to create a virtual drawing first.
Curated OER
Art and the Golden Ration
Students manipulate several metric measuring devices to become competent in their use. Students work cooperatively to complete a worksheet based on the Golden Ration. Students observe example of sculptures from different cultures and...
Curated OER
Bridge Design and Bridge Building
Seventh graders conduct an investigation into the design of bridges and their construction. Students design bridges and draw detailed plans. For assessment they construct a model of a bridge that is made entirely of toothpicks. Students...
Curated OER
Which container holds a larger amount of popcorn?
What does popcorn have to do with math? Seventh grade mathematicians are provided an opportunity to develop a conceptual understanding of the formula for volume and to use it as a tool to solve problems. The lesson begins with a...
Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools
The Sum of the Interior Angles of a Polygon
Junior geometers discover that polygons can be decomposed into triangles and that the number of triangles can be determined by a rule. Note that the Geometer’s Sketchpad® software is required to carry out all components of this...